The Red Light Girls (Unsolved Mysteries Book 2) by Kim Knight (most romantic novels TXT) 📗

“Can you get to the point?”

“I’m trying to.” She sighed. “I have a ton of unopened responses. Anyway, I just tried to contact her.”

“Of course you did. And?”

“She said she has a date with a man from the same site Suzy was using. Her number’s unresponsive.”

“What? When was this scheduled date happening?”

“She never said. And detective, she failed to respond to my email asking, which is what worries me more.”

“Okay, meet me at my office in an hour. We’ll go through the responses together.”

“There’s something else.”

“There’s always something else with you. What?”

“I…I don’t even know how to say this, but—”

“Just spit it out.”

“I think the guy I had a date last night’s involved.”

“Madeline, why didn’t you say something before now? What’s happened?”

“It only just popped into my head this morning.”

“What did? You gotta give me more than that.”

“Something happened last night with this guy, and now, it has me thinking…it made me wonder if he’s somehow connected.”

“Okay, my office in an hour. And this better be good, Madeline. It’s Sunday morning. Bring your laptop too. We’ll check out all the emails.”

Janssen dropped the phone without even so much as a goodbye.

Madeline got to her feet and headed to the kitchen for some coffee. As it brewed, her mind ticked over to Chris.

There’s no way you can be involved, is there?

26

The Pieces Fall

Detective Janssen

An hour later Detective Janssen opened the door to her office, and Madeline followed behind her.

“So, what happened with this guy you had a date with?” Janssen removed her scarf and fedora hat.

While she watched Madeline’s body language for signs of false premise, she made her way over and sat behind her desk.

“It’s probably nothing. But I met a guy pretty randomly. My car broke down, and he helped me change the flat for the spare. Then it turned out that he was the plumber my landlord hired to fix a leak in my bathroom. He’s cute. We went out on a date and—”

“I don’t need a backstory or some kinda damn romance novel. What is this?” She flipped her hands in the air in a gesture of frustration. “Get to the point,” Janssen demanded. “Tell me about the girls and why you think he’s involved?” Janssen rose, rounded her desk, and then flicked on the switch on the kettle.

“Detective, are you always like this?” A whine lined Madeline’s words.

“What?” Janssen glanced over her shoulder with a smirk. “You got some information, get to the point.”

“You’re so… so. Arghh, never mind.”

Janssen turned her full attention to Madeline, noting the body language of frustration and visible pout on her lips.

In her mind’s eye, Janssen recalled her girlfriend telling her the same thing.

You’re far too blunt at times, babe, her significant other often relayed.

It’s not as if I can help it. Hell, it comes with the territory, with the job.

She didn’t rise up the ranks and become a female detective by being soft, not by a long shot. Day in and day out, she had to deal with the bullshit testosterone of her male coworkers who tried to make her question her suitability to the job. So, who could blame her for catching an attitude now and then.

“I’m sorry.” She softened her tone. “I’m all ears. Tell me what happened.”

Madeline blinked at her from across the room. She could see the tears about to spill over onto her cheeks.

Janssen internally kicked herself. She hated to see pretty girls cry, even her own girlfriend.

She sighed deeply. “Oh Madeline, come here. It’s okay. Tell me what happened?”

Janssen crossed the room and against her better judgement, she scooped Madeline’s petite frame into her arms and held her, offering her comfort.

Sobs came from her, making her body shake.

“Some girl turned up in the middle of our date. She went crazy. I think she must have been through his phone and stored my number too.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because she called me last night to warn me to stay away from him once again.”

Janssen let Madeline go, handed her a tissue from her desk, then went back to the kettle.

“So, what’s this got to do with the missing girls. I don’t follow?” Janssen asked over her shoulder.

Madeline took a deep breath. “She asked if I’m one of the girls he’s met online, and then told me, ‘he’s her daddy.’”

Janssen rolled her eyes and laughed. She made her way to the desk with a cup of tea and sat in front of Madeline.

“Her daddy? Really? Madeline, this could just be some kinda cute name she has for him.” She paused a moment. “Sorry, do you want something to drink?”

Madeline shook her head. “ No thanks. Detective, I feel uneasy about it. Please, will you just look into it?”

“What’s his name?”

“Chris Visser.”

Janssen unlocked her computer and ran his name through the police data base.

“We’ve got more than one Chis Visser. Do you have an address?”

“1679 Hanns Street,” Madeline confirmed.

Janssen rubbed her temples and narrowed her eyes at the screen for a couple of minutes, reading.

“Okay, found him. He has a record for minor driving offenses, otherwise a clean record.” Janssen turned to Madeline and looked her in the eye.

“You do realise that if you suspect this guy, you can’t have anything else to do with him. If I pull him in for questioning, you can’t be associated with him.”

Madeline swallowed hard and looked toward the window.

Janssen studied her profile, waiting for a response. “Madeline, keep your legs closed. No more dates—got it?”

“Yeah, right. Okay. I never had sex with him. I don’t plan to see him again, anyway. He’s a two timing—”

“Spare me the details,” Janssen cut Madeline off with a wave of her hand. “What else have you got? What about these emails?”

Madeline balanced her laptop on her thighs, logged into her account, and then pulled up her work inbox.

“Here’s the original one from Lucy, the one she’s not responded to.” Madeline sat the laptop on Janssen’s desk.

Janssen leaned in to read over the email thread. “So, this guy has a